J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours

Inverted in relation the sketchbook as foliated, the drawing on the left-hand side of this page records Le Havre’s quayside buildings as they lead up to the sixteenth-century tower of François I on the right. Particular attention has been paid to the upper architectural details of these structures, with the lower parts of the sketch growing increasingly indistinct. Indeed, some or all of the marks at bottom of the page may be intended as depictions of an entirely separate scene or set of details. For examples of the watercolours of Le Havre that Turner worked up with a view to engraved reproduction around this time, see Tate D24647 (Turner Bequest CCLIX 82), D24698 (Turner Bequest CCLIX 133), and D24699 (Turner Bequest CCLIX 134). These culminated in two engravings in the 1834 volume of Turner’s Annual Tour: Wanderings by the Loire and Seine (1833–5; later reissued as Rivers of France); see Tate impressions T05594 and T04699.